2nd Ice Drop and TCT retreat possibility - nuntium duocentesimum quadrigesimum secundum

Here's the Ice Drop with another round and my second attempt below.

I'm not sure the second one is better.  :)

And in other news....

Cindy (A Happy Bluebird) and I thought is was time for the Twin Cities Tatters to have a little summer retreat in July, so we are interested in finding out if anyone else might want to join us!  This would be a 2-night stay at a retreat center somewhere near the Twin Cities, Minnesota area, and just time set aside to tat and enjoy the company of other tatters.  No classes would be offered for this first retreat, but who knows what fun could evolve?!

If you are seriously interested, we would love to hear from you ASAP.  The link below will take you to a simple form to help us determine interest and decide what might work the best.  Space will be limited, and a deposit will be required - so the sooner we get planning, the better!

Click here to submit interest (no obligation at this time).

Once the dates are set, the Retreat will be open for registration on a first-come / first-served basis, so watch for that information!

Ice Drop - nuntium duocentesimum quadrigesimum primum

Well, Diane the Lace Lovin' Librarian has caught me in her web!  Here's my first Ice Drop.  She has a wonderful tutorial on her blog.

I think it's pretty cute but I have some ideas for improvement.  The encapsulating rings are a bit too stretched so I'll need to fix that but still it's nice.  My younger daughter said it looked like something to eat!  Ouch.

I really have been tatting and doing craft shows.

This was the first one of the year and it was crazy successful.  : )
Here you can see the preparations for the second show.

Those are the MN snowflakes.  Not big sellers after the first show, strangely.

Here's a hanky I made for a bride/colleague for her December wedding.  The edging is Joëlle's gorgeous Iris edging.  And here's me and my handsome husband ready to go to the wedding, isn't he still a great-looking guy?

Here's what I got from Ingebretsen's (local craft and meat market) who awarded me a gift certificate for my State Fair doily.

I'm so excited to have these!  I've wanted them for a long time.  If you own the cross one, I'd love to hear what your favorites are.

Saturdays - nuntium duocentesimum quadrigesimum

I have been tatting- really.  And I've been reading blogs too.  But mostly I've been doing school.  This year I have a completely new textbook for French and a new edition for my 7th and 8th grade Latin books.  That means that just about every spare moment is devoted to prep work.

Here is how I face hours of preparation work.

Assam tea

Here is the tatting I've been sneaking in too.

That's Robin Perfetti's Noelle in the front, a few from an old book of snowflakes (it's upstairs) maybe the one with 24 flakes?, a few of Frivole's Le Flocon Frivole, a couple of Betsy Evan's snowflake, a Frivole Bentley, a Jane Eborall Teeny Tiny, a small pile of Elizabeth Zipay's Elizabeth's Snowflake, a pile of Decoromana's  small snowflake(I can't find her Etsy shop anymore) and a pile of one I saw on pinterest with no attribution (and no pattern).

Results - nuntium duocentesimum undequadrigesimum

As my English friend would say, I'm pretty chuffed!

I got first place and a sweepstakes and another award from a local business for best overall tatted piece.

This is very exciting and so fun because of all the people who saw it and sent me pictures of it with themselves.  And a student I had 15 years ago even spotted it and contacted me!

What complete fun!  Thank you for all the encouragement since May!  And Renulek, thank you for the most gorgeous pattern!

Now to solve the problem of how to get into doorways again, my head is quite swollen!

I'm a Minnesotan now. - nuntium duocentesimum duodequadrigesimum

I've lived in MN for 30 years now but have always considered myself a North Dakotan.  Proud to be too.

But I think on Monday, I really became a Minnesotan.  I entered the State Fair.

I covered foam board with blue satin-y fabric and then sewed it on.

Hopefully I'll find out on Thursday- the first day of the fair.  The 2nd day of school so I might be busy.

Thank you, Renulek, for an absolutely gorgeous pattern.  It was very fun and exciting to be a part of a world wide group doing this.

And now, back to school.

Pay attention! - nuntium duocentesimum duodequadrigesimum

Sheesh, guess what happens if you work with a solid color and a variegated which contains the solid color  AND you don't pay attention?

Yep, untatting.

 Here's some of the untatting, I had actually gotten to blue before I realized.

Back to here.

But I've done it and have made some progress.  Today was Twin Cities Tatters meeting so that was very fun.  I'm more than a 1/4 way around- well, one repeat more than 1/4 way.  Still, I'm pleased.

Just follow the directions! - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum septimum

While I've been waiting for the final round of Renulek's WIOSNA 2016, I've been tatting snowflakes.  In fact this is one of the more boring blogs, I'm sure because that's really all I've been doing this year. Snowflakes, snowflakes, snowflakes.  I'll be happy in November and December when it comes time to sell but...
Anyway, I've been tatting Bentleys because I love them, they're popular and they have beads.  I can tat during meetings but not really with beads, too much concentration so I've been working on them now.

 And then there's this disaster.  It's not awful but it doesn't do Joelle's gorgeous pattern justice.  Why, why, why?  Because some numbskull thought she knew the pattern so well she didn't need to look.  And making chains instead of lockchains to the "arms" is too short!  Lesson learned.

We recently went to our lovely Institute of Arts which has a marvelous collection including the only Doryphoros outside of Italy.  We went because elder daughter requested but when we pulled up, both younger daughter and I burst out laughing!  Why? Because of the head below.  When we were in Pompeii this June, many students were irritated by the modern sculptures placed throughout the site.  These massive bronzes by Igor Mitoraj were incongruous in their eyes (mine too but I tried valiantly not to color their opinions with mine.)  One of the biggest grumps about it was my younger daughter so to be confronted with another Mitoraj here in our backyard was just too much!

Now on to row 17.  I plan to follow the directions!

Home again - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum sextum

Now back to Minnesota.  It was a marvelous week with many fun things but as always it's a delight to be home too. Here's a little motif that I made with sewing thread while in Birmingham.  It's not my favorite but it was part of a gift.  It's based on something I saw on Pinterest although not nearly as nice.  It was part of gift for our hostess/friend.  I would have preferred to do something else but it needed to fit in a certain space and all my books were at home!  Trust me, the original is lovely!

On Friday night we went to a posh (even has a Michelin star) restaurant in the neighborhood.  It's called Simpsons.  The food is absolutely delightful and the service was outstanding.  (Here starts my career as a food critic- remember when!).  The presentation of the food was quite beautiful although some of it was a bit over-the-top for this North Dakota girl. (You didn't know I grew up in ND, did you?)  Sometimes, I think my ND upbringing gives me a bit of what I call "Emperor's New Clothes" syndrome.  This is where I look at things and think "that's ridiculous" while others around me exclaim about the "beauty", "intensity", "innovation", etc.  Here are some pictures from our amazing meal. 

Starters for my friends- looked beautiful but contained seafood which I can't eat.  See the rock in the back on the right?  It was chilled and the sauce for dipping is that creamy stuff on the top.  Beautiful and yummy, but in my opinion, ridiculous.

My starter- yum!

Appetizer with scallops- for my friends

The bread- the rolls on the right are made with olive tapenade.  I could have eaten just those!

My appetizer- it was delightful

Something called Ox Cheek (dumb name) but WOW!

The lamb course with some veg, both amazing.

The "pre-dessert"- seriously?  But wow- mango crust with lemon curd something and shortbread crumbs. 

And dessert.  Something cleverly named "Dessert around a Peach".  But it was so wonderful.  It had white chocolate and more white chocolate called aero, meaning it was puffed somehow with raspberries and lavender

And with our expresso/cappuccino came a little bag called "pick and mix" which was full of the most delightful candies.

Here's a picture of our (second) Full English.  I did  not have the tomato although it was available.  

And to end, here we are on the terrace of her house with our afternoon Cava.

What a trip!

( I just re-read this post and laughed at all my "delightful"s but truly it was!)

Caught up!!! - - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum quintum

I'm caught up!  I'm caught up!  I can't believe it- and I didn't run out of thread but it's close.  WIOSNA round 16 is done!

 Since I had more time, I made Joëlle's Le flocon Frivole too (which I love).

Yesterday was significantly cooler in Birmingham.  My friend assures me that London is simply warmer anyway but even so, it was wonderful.  I even put on slippers last night.  Sometimes being "cool" is simply delicious, but for me only if it's natural, not air-conditioned.  I love my air-conditioning at home, don't get me wrong but I don't find it as pleasurable as a cool evening after a warm(ish) day.

My hostess is determined that I shall enjoy all Birmingham has to offer so yesterday we went to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts which has an amazing collection of art and -I think- my new favorite Van Gogh, called A Peasant Woman Digging.  She is such a real person and yet so lovely, the colors are truly wonderful.

A poppy in the Winterbourne Gardens

Then we walked to Winterbourne House, had lunch in the terrace café and leisurely wandered the gardens for the rest of the afternoon.  We didn't go in the house, that's for next trip possibly.

And even the food at "home" is wonderful.  Here is last night's dinner which was a lovely salad of snap peas (cleverly called Mangetout here), peas, radicchio, feta, pine nuts and prosciutto.  It was a delight!

And we started the day with a traditional full English breakfast.  I am so very spoiled.

Caught up!!! - - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum quintum

I'm caught up!  I'm caught up!  I can't believe it- and I didn't run out of thread but it's close.  WIOSNA round 16 is done!

 Since I had more time, I made Joëlle's Le flocon Frivole too (which I love).

Yesterday was significantly cooler in Birmingham.  My friend assures me that London is simply warmer anyway but even so, it was wonderful.  I even put on slippers last night.  Sometimes being "cool" is simply delicious, but for me only if it's natural, not air-conditioned.  I love my air-conditioning at home, don't get me wrong but I don't find it as pleasurable as a cool evening after a warm(ish) day.

My hostess is determined that I shall enjoy all Birmingham has to offer so yesterday we went to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts which has an amazing collection of art and -I think- my new favorite Van Gogh, called A Peasant Woman Digging.  She is such a real person and yet so lovely, the colors are truly wonderful.

A poppy in the Winterbourne Gardens

Then we walked to Winterbourne House, had lunch in the terrace café and leisurely wandered the gardens for the rest of the afternoon.  We didn't go in the house, that's for next trip possibly.

And even the food at "home" is wonderful.  Here is last night's dinner which was a lovely salad of snap peas (cleverly called Mangetout here), peas, radicchio, feta, pine nuts and prosciutto.  It was a delight!

And we started the day with a traditional full English breakfast.  I am so very spoiled.

Caught up!!! - - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum quintum

I'm caught up!  I'm caught up!  I can't believe it- and I didn't run out of thread but it's close.  WIOSNA round 16 is done!

 Since I had more time, I made Joëlle's Le flocon Frivole too (which I love).

Yesterday was significantly cooler in Birmingham.  My friend assures me that London is simply warmer anyway but even so, it was wonderful.  I even put on slippers last night.  Sometimes being "cool" is simply delicious, but for me only if it's natural, not air-conditioned.  I love my air-conditioning at home, don't get me wrong but I don't find it as pleasurable as a cool evening after a warm(ish) day.

My hostess is determined that I shall enjoy all Birmingham has to offer so yesterday we went to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts which has an amazing collection of art and -I think- my new favorite Van Gogh, called A Peasant Woman Digging.  She is such a real person and yet so lovely, the colors are truly wonderful.

A poppy in the Winterbourne Gardens

Then we walked to Winterbourne House, had lunch in the terrace café and leisurely wandered the gardens for the rest of the afternoon.  We didn't go in the house, that's for next trip possibly.

And even the food at "home" is wonderful.  Here is last night's dinner which was a lovely salad of snap peas (cleverly called Mangetout here), peas, radicchio, feta, pine nuts and prosciutto.  It was a delight!

And we started the day with a traditional full English breakfast.  I am so very spoiled.

Caught up!!! - - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum quintum

I'm caught up!  I'm caught up!  I can't believe it- and I didn't run out of thread but it's close.  WIOSNA round 16 is done!

 Since I had more time, I made Joëlle's Le flocon Frivole too (which I love).

Yesterday was significantly cooler in Birmingham.  My friend assures me that London is simply warmer anyway but even so, it was wonderful.  I even put on slippers last night.  Sometimes being "cool" is simply delicious, but for me only if it's natural, not air-conditioned.  I love my air-conditioning at home, don't get me wrong but I don't find it as pleasurable as a cool evening after a warm(ish) day.

My hostess is determined that I shall enjoy all Birmingham has to offer so yesterday we went to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts which has an amazing collection of art and -I think- my new favorite Van Gogh, called A Peasant Woman Digging.  She is such a real person and yet so lovely, the colors are truly wonderful.

A poppy in the Winterbourne Gardens

Then we walked to Winterbourne House, had lunch in the terrace café and leisurely wandered the gardens for the rest of the afternoon.  We didn't go in the house, that's for next trip possibly.

And even the food at "home" is wonderful.  Here is last night's dinner which was a lovely salad of snap peas (cleverly called Mangetout here), peas, radicchio, feta, pine nuts and prosciutto.  It was a delight!

And we started the day with a traditional full English breakfast.  I am so very spoiled.

Caught up!!! - - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum quintum

I'm caught up!  I'm caught up!  I can't believe it- and I didn't run out of thread but it's close.  WIOSNA round 16 is done!

 Since I had more time, I made Joëlle's Le flocon Frivole too (which I love).

Yesterday was significantly cooler in Birmingham.  My friend assures me that London is simply warmer anyway but even so, it was wonderful.  I even put on slippers last night.  Sometimes being "cool" is simply delicious, but for me only if it's natural, not air-conditioned.  I love my air-conditioning at home, don't get me wrong but I don't find it as pleasurable as a cool evening after a warm(ish) day.

My hostess is determined that I shall enjoy all Birmingham has to offer so yesterday we went to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts which has an amazing collection of art and -I think- my new favorite Van Gogh, called A Peasant Woman Digging.  She is such a real person and yet so lovely, the colors are truly wonderful.

A poppy in the Winterbourne Gardens

Then we walked to Winterbourne House, had lunch in the terrace café and leisurely wandered the gardens for the rest of the afternoon.  We didn't go in the house, that's for next trip possibly.

And even the food at "home" is wonderful.  Here is last night's dinner which was a lovely salad of snap peas (cleverly called Mangetout here), peas, radicchio, feta, pine nuts and prosciutto.  It was a delight!

And we started the day with a traditional full English breakfast.  I am so very spoiled.

HOT, HOT, HOT! - nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum quartum

Yesterday was fantastic in London.  We had a lot of fun in the British Museum.  I took 190 pictures, if you can imagine and that was in just four rooms.  Unfortunately the Roman collection is mostly on the third floor and there are skylights in (most of) those rooms.  It was a bit like greenhouse except with no plants and everyone else in the world there.
I had been in 2002 but was still staggered by the collection.  I could blather on and bore you with gobs of pictures of Roman glass but I won't.  But even I, and my daughters will tell you the contrary, was defeated by the weather and was ready to leave the museum when we did.  Usually you would have to drag me out of any museum with Roman stuff.
We had a marvelous dinner at Giotto which is between the BM and Tottenham Court Road station.

Here's my zabaglione, the dessert- yum!!!

And I tatted both on the way and back.  Still on the old thread and I think I might make it to the end of the round- here's hoping.  (Thank you, God's Kid, for the reassurance.  I'm very nervous about the two threads.)

I can't decide if I'm pleased the next round isn't available yet- because I'm not quite done or sad because I want to see it!

Now what? nuntium duocentesimum tricesimum quartum

And today's dilemma is...
I'm out of thread.  It's "vintage" which is of course code for "really old".  It was my Aunt Rose-E's so at minimum it's 40 years old.  The label says $.15 but with an actual "cents" mark.  Do they even make that anymore?
But in the stash, there is another, made by a different company with a different number.  Could it work?

Oh boy.

Let me explain how/why I'm in Birmingham.  I have a very dear friend who is a Brummie who grew up here and then lived for many years in Greenwich.  Two years ago, she moved "back home" and had me over to help her unpack.  She felt bad last time because we "worked" the whole time and wanted an opportunity to show off her town.

Today we went to the Back-to-Backs which were fascinating, although quite cramped to these modern eyes and stifling in this heat!  I swear it wasn't this warm in Italy!

It's been a very relaxing trip, staying in a home, rather than a hotel and not trundling 17 middle schoolers about.  My friend is an author and recently finished her latest book in June.  For the last several years, I have been the lucky "first audience" as she reads her new book aloud.  I do get to make suggestions here and there and I tat while listening, hence the great "productive" nature of the last week.  Plus I couldn't sleep on the plane to save my life so I got a lot done then!

Tomorrow we are going to London for the day (doesn't that sound quite pompous?).  We are going to the British Museum to see an exhibit of archeological remains from Alexandria (Egypt).  We went to Egypt together in 2007 to specifically see this stuff (as research for her book then) only to find the museum there was CLOSED!  So, 9 years later, we finally get to see the collection.   Of course I drag the poor woman through the Roman galleries for as long as she can stand that too.

And I get to tat on the train, there and back!  Perfect.